Today was awesome. I was able to run my usual 5 mile trail jog in the cold 30 degree F weather: overcast at the beginning and then sunny at the end. I really don't like cold weather, but I love trail jogging/running - and the trail is dry, so my current Spyridon Vibrams can handle it (they soak up water like a sponge).

I had my morning protein shake an hour before I ran, and today was a Lipo6 (just one) day to get me out in the cold. It gives me just enough jolt to push me forward at the beginning and keeps me going till the end and beyond (1 and 1/2 hours of jogging today).

I am also taking Epimedium/Icariin, and am just about to cycle off of it: 2 more days.

MaxRack Barbell Curl: Bar/25 warmup, 10/25, 20/20, 30/15, 40/12~3 (12 solid reps, and 3 rocking it up and holding it on the way down/eccentric slow), and then a descending set of 20/15, and Bar/25 (very slow and made it burn with a hold of 5 seconds before I racked the barbell). I did so many warmup sets because my wrists were acting up, and if I go heavy right away, then I would injure myself. This way they warm up nicely and do not get act up for the rest of the exercises.

Sitting down Dumbell Hammers (sitting down makes it harder to do/ no rocking and form is strict): 17.5/25, 22.5/25 (this was better than last time!), 27.5/18 (again, 2 more than last time), 35/8 (2 more than last time), and then I did a descending set of 20/15 + 10 (+ means I stopped at 15, rested, and then pumped out the last 10 reps).

Biceps were tired, so I decided to end it here and go on to Triceps (and see if doing Biceps would hinder my Tricep workout - as this was my first time doing these two bodyparts together).

Triceps:

Narrow Grip Flat Bench Chest Press: Bar/25 (no wobbles on this one set - had lots of wobbles when I first tried this exercise without any weight, except for the bar - stablizer muscles were pretty nonexistent - Smith Press girl, tsk, tsk), 20/25, 40/25, 60/15, 80/10 (PB from last time - stopped here because I was starting to wobble and I have no spotter), so I did a descending set of 40/25 that were nice and controlled with a burn around the 20 rep mark.

V-bar Pressdown (I usually use the Rope, but my wrists are starting to limit my weight, so I went back to this bar for just straight push the weight down without the wrists getting in the way): 80/25, 100/20, 120/12, 140/8 (last time it was 6~2, so this was a solid , and then a descending set of 70/25 (triceps are now pumped, and I seem to have forgotten all about my biceps! LOL!)

Tricep Overhead Extension with the Rope (this doesn't bother my wrists as I keep the rope together when I extend out over my head, with my elbows by my ears): 60/25, 90/15, 110/8~1 (tried to do one more than last time, and got a partial rep up, and it just stayed there for a nice pause), and then a descending set of 70/for only 15 reps.

http://worldabs.com/products/horny-goat ... -epimediumAnd this stuff did not make me horny as a goat - I dislike the common name of this herb - but I can understand how the name probably came to be called that, LOL!Now, their ProStack with the Tongkat Ali did do that alright. . . .

I've only ever used/found one product that managed to ramp up my libido, that side of things kicked in within the first 24hrs. Great for strength too, a little more 'punch' than tribulus which is what I've normally used in the past.

Goals will be turning towards getting ripped this year. And looking to feel confident to enter a BB competition this year (as oppose to fizzling out last year). I also plan to be more vocal about being a vegan in the gym, and being a vegan fitness mentor when I get my certification as a personal trainer.

Today's snow and a cold 27 degrees F did feel daunting at the beginning of my trail jog, but I went to Paint Creek Trail that is about a 10 minute drive south of where I live, so I could go trail jogging thru more wooded environment and a stone path trail, and thus stay out of the wind and my Vibrams wouldn't slip and slide like they do on snow covered asphalt. It was slow going, but I did the 5 miles in 1 hour and 20 minutes ( I still had little slips here and there, so it was slow at times).

On today's agenda was Back.

Teres Major Pulley Curl:20/2530/2540/20, and another 20Isolated teres major muscle pumped up

WideBar Protonated Grip Lat Pulldown:90/25120/17~3150/10~5 165/8~4180/8 short ROM - never tried this weight before, so I will take it as a new PB (will need to get it more solid in the ROM)descending sets of 105/25, 25

Machine Back Row (Low protonated grip):150/25180/25210/15240/10~5270/10285/8300(with help getting the handle up to my chest)/6 short ROM reps, a usual PB - but trying to get the handles up to my chest by myself - but it is still too much of a stretch for my lats to engage the muscles fibers needed to pull that much weight back with my arms way out stretched - could do the 285 though! and I couldn't do that before - so some progress.descending sets of 120/25, 25

Upper Back Row using Cables on a StarTrek cable tower (handles were about 4 feet apart and pinned in at a height alittle above my shoulder joint):20/2530/2540/2550/2560/2070/2080/1890/15descending set of 40/25(this was a new exercise, so I start out low and keep going till I get to a medium rep range - will try to go heavier next time - but I will say that I was done at this point - and I was out of my workout drink and getting hungry! so home it was!)

Here we go! So excited that I was up at 6:18 AM, and tried to go back to bed, but got up around 7 AM.Put away the New Year's Eve clean dishes in the diswasher, and heated up my Rice milk to warm (I do not do tea, but warm/hot rice milk protein shake seems to get things moving all the same - which I like to do before I head out for morning cardio).

So I am sitting here eating my 20 g of sprouts, then my protein rice milk drink, and follow it with 1 tsp of wheat germ oil. In that order, so I should be able to digest it properly before my morning cardio.

Tried to do trail jogging twice, and both times I gave up at the turn around point and took the roads back to the starting point. My lower back and achilles tendon are screaming from all the trying to keep stabilized during the jogs thru the snow crusted bumps and jagged outlines of other people's footprints! And the snow was slippery, so it was so hard to stay upright.

So today it is the elliptical at the gym! Half hour after I get this early morning replenishment meal in me. Then 2 Lipo6's (? - I have been using only 1 lately - shall I try to up it just for today and see how it goes?) and a bottle of water with my MP3 player, and I am good to go!

No, I have been keeping it to only one Lipo6 before I do something (exercise stimulant only - not for appetite).

I am doing mega sets of the 15 to 25 rep range, so weights are in the middle range. Going for active recovery for a cycle of one time per bodypart this week. Not so inspiring, but needed as my bodyparts were DOMS for days after - though my piriformis, or whatever is at the end of tailbone, way deep in the gluteus maximus, has been hurting for awhile now - too much stretch with the heavy weights and being up on a high step during my Stiff-Legged Deadlifts to get an awesome stretch on. . . maybe too awesome as it is now a week later!

No cardio today. Took my NASM CPT test instead, and passed it. Now to go on and personalize my training speciality by taking the certification for a Plant-based diet from eCornell.

Today was Delts, and yesterday was Hamstrings (which I could do, even though I felt the tailbone tweak alittle during the SLDL, but the weight was only 50lbs (and not my usual heavy set of 140lb). I do not know if my hammies will allow any trail jogging tomorrow, but we shall see. Maybe I can help them along with some hot water bottles coaxing the blood flow to go faster with its repair process?

Dieting seems to be going well. Weight down this morning to 163.8 (yesterday for the 1st was 165.6), but I know it is just water weight from not having bread anymore. The goal for this week is to loose 3 lbs, so a solid 162 by Saturday - which can be water weight mostly , but it is still a goal to attain).

Power Squat on the Smith Press (I can keep my back and core in correct position and push maximium weight in this)Bar/25+ warm up, nice and slow50/2590/25140/25180/25230/30270/15 (now we are talking heavy weight! I had to position my head with the cervical spine in alignment, because I could feel all that weight on the top of my spine! I would love to have the Manta Ray Squat support, instead of the foam roller that is about 2 years old!)320/10 (a PB! I usually do only 8!)Descending set 180/25, 90/25 - both slow and burning my outer quads!

Leg Extensions with the seat all the way back, and a balance disc on my back for stabilization - nice stretch in the Rectus femoris (middle Quad section of muscle)90/25120/18150/15180/15210/12240/10 270/8, twice

and these sets were supersetted with Bosu Ball Front Squats on the free-form MaxRack20/2540/25 (felt nice at this heavy load for 25 - easy first 15 reps, hard at 20 reps, and then gritted my teeth to get the last 5 reps out) and did this set 4 times

Tried to do Calves on the Leg Press Horizontal Machine and hurt the small of my back (I hate that machine/OK, I don't know how to use that machine properly for my short form yet) at 300/25, and my Quads were having trouble carrying my body around ( I "stumbled on a carpet bump" about 3 or 4 times on my walk around the gym to get the lactic acid out of my muscles, and more ATP-PC back in there to use for the next set) so I called it a good workout and went home to drink a protein/high carb drink.

My quads hurt the next day (and my gluteus maximus/medius area also - power squats), but I did not really notice how painful they were till I took a trail walk of 2 miles this morning - but the sun was out and no wind, I couldn't pass up a chance to get outside.

So today's weight was up higher than yesterday: shall we say it is all the blood volume/water retention in my thighs and glutes? It was 163.4, while I was getting so close to my goal of 162 on the 6th of Jan - 162.2 yesterday. I plan to drink lots of water tonight, and see if I can flush out the extra water.

So far, no bread or pasta - even the cravings have subsided (which is amazing as the family made their famous rolls with the Tuscany seasoning on top this morning - filling the house with wonderful smells! I sniffed my roll this morning! LOL!).

As stated in the post above, I went for a 2 mile trail walk on the snow covered, but well-trodden down, trail this morning. I did have some troubles on the way back (1 mile in, 1 mile back) as my quads and glutes started to talk to me when I had to balance a little bit on the snow bumps. I stretched them, and gave them a little bit of a massage (getting out all the little bubbles that I sometimes get right on top of my muscles) and they were good to go (at least to keep my body up and moving around to do chores).

Chest today!

Back to heavy weight sets (did the medium weights with the medium rep range of 15 to 25 last time)

MaxRack Incline (45 degree angle or notch 3 this time - one notch higher than last time) Chest PressBar/2550/25 (the bar was not gliding up and down nicely - like the bars need to be cleaned . . . again)70/15 (so hard when it is at this high of an incline - and I am surprised that my front delts are not screaming at me while it is so high)80/10~290/8~2 (this is all I can go - I was having trouble getting it up on the last one, and then I just did partial reps on the way down)Descending set 50/15, burning, so I kept the bar up, breath paused, and then did 5 more reps, burning again, kept the bar up again, took another breath pause, and did the last 5 reps for a total of 25 reps. I was done with this one.

Single Cable Chest Crossover on the same Incline bench, with alternating arms going passed the middle of my body to the opposite side's delts/shoulder:20/2525/1830/1535/8~2 (this is a PB for this one)Descending sets of 20/25 - moderately slow - too slow and I burn out at 10 repsDone with this one.

Waited about 5 minutes to get on the next machine.

HammerStrength Incline Chest Press:90/25140/15180/6~2and was frustrated that I could not do 8 good solid reps, so I tortured myself with a 2 minute rest by sitting at the machine (instead of walking around trying to get things back to normal), and pumping out another set at 180, but got only 5 good reps in and then pushed for 3 partial reps on the way down.Descending set at 90/15, paused for 30 seconds to get the lactic acid out of there, and then did another 15 reps.Done with this one.

Had some time left to do something else, so I went for a Stabilization and easy one:Bosu Ball Push-up on the flat surface side up, half ball side down4 sets of 25 reps on the first one, 15 reps on the second set, 12 reps on the third set, and fatigue it all the way with 8 reps on the fourth set.Done.

Yesterday (and today) after my morning protein drink, and an icy-covered trail jog for 5 miles in the nice winter sun, I weighed the lowest since the New Year: 161.0. I can feel the water weight going more and more. I also went off of creatine. Feels nice to be getting harder and harder. Onto getting rid of the bodyfat next. I need to keep focused, and get the shredded mindset. I have already not been able to push the heavy weights, but I can still feel the muscle being pushed to its limits. So no more focusing on how much, but on how it feels.